This week's Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball players of the week include Sy Chatman of Illinois State and Zach Hobbs of Indiana State.
MVC Player of the Week
Sy Chatman, Illinois State
6-8, 230, Sr., F
Minneapolis (Minn.) Cretin-Derham Hall [UMass]
Chatman averaged 22.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game during the week for ISU, making 62 percent of his shots from the field and 77 percent of his tries from the charity stripe. He also added two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot over the two games. At Wisconsin he scored 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, while going 8-of-11 from the free throw line. He also pulled down seven rebounds and added a steal. Kicking off the new year he scored 23 points against Valparaiso, converting on 9-of-16 shots and 5-of-6 free tries with six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. The two games during the week are the first time in his career that he has scored 20+ points in back-to-back games.
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Zach Hobbs, Indiana State
6-5, 190, So., G
Mesa (Ariz.) High [Des Moines Area CC]
Hobbs took advantage of playing time this week as the Sycamores were down three starters due to COVID-19. The guard averaged 18.5 points, eight rebounds and 1.5 steals per game as ISU went 2-0, including their first MVC win of the season after taking down Bradley, 76-71. Hobbs was lights out in a 107-51 win over Midway where he put in a career-high 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting while finishing 5-for-9 from behind the arc. Hobbs also brought down seven rebounds against the Eagles. The 6-foot-5 guard continued where he left off on Sunday when he played all 40 minutes against the Braves -- finishing with 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds in the win.
Weekly Notebook (PDF)
Metrics at the Turn
At the turn of the calender, the Missouri Valley Conference is rated No. 11 in both the KenPom metrics and in the NET (through games of Jan. 2). Three MVC teams are in the Top 100 in both metrics (Loyola, Drake, and Missouri State)
NET Rankings Leaders
Loyola leads the league in the latest installment of the NET ratings, at No. 18. Last year, three league schools ranked in the Top 100 of the NET and the MVC had four teams in the Top 150. This year, the league currently has five teams rated 150 or better.
Paused
As of Jan. 3, a total of 17 Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball games have been adjusted or canceled.
MVC Games Postponed/Rescheduled: 3/0
Total MVC Games Moved: 0
Regular-Season MVC Games Canceled: 0
Non-Conference Games Canceled/Postponed: 14
Games Not Made Up: 9
Games Added (new opponents): 4
Rescheduled (same opponent/diff. date): 1
Recapping Last Season
The MVC played a full 90-game conference schedule (and was the only Division I league to do so). The MVC had 32 game-date shifts in league play since Christmas and rescheduled 17 games during the process.
Non-Conference Games Permitted: 90
Non-Conference Games Scheduled: 68
Games Cancelled/Added: 25/24
Conference Games Scheduled/Played: 90/90
MVC Games Postponed/Rescheduled: 17/17
Total MVC Games Moved: 32
Regular-Season MVC Games Canceled: 0
League Play Continues
Three MVC contests are on the slate for Wednesday, Jan. 5, and all 10 teams are scheduled to play Saturday, Jan. 8. Loyola and Southern Illinois are the lone MVC unbeatens at 1-0. Loyola hasn’t played since Dec. 10, while Southern Illinois’ first two MVC contests after Christmas (Loyola/Drake) were postponed.
Winning the First One a Key
Since 1993-94, only four teams (UNI, a 2009 co-champ, Loyola in 2018, Drake in 2019 and UNI in 2020) have won at least a share of the MVC regular-season title without winning the league opener. In fact, 25 of the last 30 regular-season champs (or co-champs) have opened 2-0 or better in MVC play, with UNI (2008-09 and 2019-20), Wichita State (2011-12), Loyola (2017-18) and Drake (2018-19) the exceptions. In 2018-19, Drake became the first regular-season champ since 1992-93 to start league play with back-to-back defeats.
0-2 Starts in Conference Play
Before Drake accomplished the feat in 2018-19, the league had not had a regular-season champ (or co-champ) start an MVC season with two-straight losses since the 1992-93 season when Illinois State started 0-2 in league play before winning the league race with a 13-5 MVC mark. No team in MVC history has started league play 0-3 and gone on to win or share the regular-season title.
16-0 Stretch Fuels MVC
From Dec. 15-Dec. 21, MVC men’s basketball teams recorded a 16-0 non-league record. That resulted in a jump in the Conference NET ratings. The Missouri Valley Conference is currently ranked No. 11 in the NET, and the league also continues to sit at No. 11 in the KenPom ratings. Notably, the league’s best non-conference stretch last year was just five-straight wins. To put the current 16-0 stretch in historical perspective only once in the past 10 seasons has the league had a non-league winning streak that was at least half the current streak. From Nov. 12-15, 2017, the Conference went 8-0 within a stretch of 11 wins in 12 games. Below are the longest win streaks in non-league play in the past 20 years.
16-0 -- Dec. 15-21, 2021
12-0 -- Dec. 9-Dec. 15, 2004
11-0 -- Nov. 18-Nov. 20, 2005
9-0 -- Dec. 8-12, 2006 (included two top-25 wins)
8-0 -- Nov. 12-15, 2017
8-0 -- Dec. 22-23, 2010
8-0 -- Dec. 2-5, 2003
Home Cooking
After a slow start at home in non-conference play, league teams picked up the pace in Conference arenas. Through games of Dec. 5, MVC teams had a 25-11 home record in non-conference play. Since then, MVC teams are 23-1 at home to lift the full-season non-conference home record to 48-12. Last season, Valley schools posted a 34-2 home record in non-league games, and the MVC was 55-6 at home the year prior. MVC teams are 8-1 in league play at home this year (Southern Illinois has been the only school to win a road Conference game this season.)
Loyola’s Home Streak
Loyola enters this week with a 28-game win streak at Gentile Arena, the fifth-longest, active streak in the country (through games of Jan. 2).
59 -- Gonzaga
43 -- Liberty
35 -- Prairie View
33 -- Houston
28 -- Loyola
21 -- Abilene Christian
21 -- Baylor
BU .. Double Trouble
Malevy Leons recorded his first career double-double on Sunday at Indiana State with 11 points and 12 rebounds, becoming the fourth Brave this year to post a double-double (also Rienk Mast, Ja’Shon Henry and Terry Roberts). Bradley is the only team in the Missouri Valley Conference with four players to accomplish the feat this season as no other school has more than two players with double-doubles.
DU .. Penn Returns
After missing seven games with a foot injury, Drake’s Roman Penn returned to action and started at point guard against Missouri State. Penn scored 13 points in his return against the Bears.
UE .. Home Cooking
Evansville’s Blaise Beauchamp scored a career-best 14 points on Sunday at UNI, playing just a handful of hours from his hometown of Minnetonka, Minnesota. It marked his fifth double digit game of the season and second in a row after totaling 11 at SEMO. He saw a career-high 28:45 of playing time while hitting five field goals, including four 3-pointers. This was the first time he recorded consecutive double digit games since the opening two games of the season.
ILS .. High Makes and Pct.
Illinois State guards Antonio Reeves and Josiah Strong are one of just 19 student-athletes across NCAA Division I to rank inside of the top 40 in both three point field goals made per game and three-point field goal percentage. Reeves and Josiah Strong are the only teammates among the 19 in that list, as Reeves ranks 31st in three-point field goals made and 32nd in percentage, while Strong ranks 39th in makes per game and 13th in percentage. Missouri State’s Jaylen Minnett is the only other MVC player in that group.
INS .. Climbing the Ladder
Cooper Neese scored a game-high 19 points and hit five 3-pointers in a win over Bradley Sunday. With the shots from deep, Neese moved into a tie with Chad Adkins (1996-99) for eighth all-time in career 3-pointers (149). Guard Tyreke Key sits in seventh place with 153 career threes.
LUC .. Lincoln Logs
Loyola has won its last 19 games versus teams from the state of Illinois since suffering a 68-63 loss at Southern Illinois on January 29, 2020. Taking it even further, the Ramblers have won 22 of their last 23 outings versus foes from the Land of Lincoln. The Ramblers have won nine of their last 10 true road games, with the lone loss being a 51-50 decision, in overtime, at Drake on February 14, 2021.
MSU .. Home Spun
The Bears extended their home win streak to five in a row with Sunday’s 61-56 win over Drake, which also helped the Bears improve to 28-4 all-time in Valley home openers, including a 12-2 ledger at JQH Arena.
UNI .. Jacobson Moving Up
Ben Jacobson is three conference wins from passing Eddie Hickey as the third winningest MVC coach in league history in conference games. The 16th year head coach has won 161 games in league play since taking over the UNI program in 2006. Jacobson also leads active Valley coaches in total league wins. Hickey coached at Creighton and Saint Louis and won 163 league games. Dana Altman is No. 2 on the list with 182 all-time wins in league play while Henry Iba (Oklahoma State) had 187.
SIU .. Offensive Output
Counting its last contest (a 75-64 win against Grambling on Dec. 28) SIU has won 31-straight games when scoring 75+ points. SIU’s last loss when scoring 75+ was 1/18/17 (L, 88-84 at Drake). Since the start of the 2015-16 season, SIU is 53-3 (.946) when scoring 75 points or more.
VALPO .. Success at the Stripe
Valpo enjoyed a perfect 16-of-16 performance at the free-throw line in Sunday’s overtime win over Illinois State. That marked the second time in the last four games that the Beacons have gone unblemished at the foul stripe after a 14-of-14 showing on Dec. 11 vs. Charlotte. The Charlotte game was Valpo’s first perfect day at the stripe since February 2018 vs. Evansville (5-for-5) and first with at least 10 attempts since Nov. 17, 2016 at Oregon (14-of-14). Valpo became just the sixth team in the nation with a perfect free-throw shooting game with 15 or more attempts.
BU .. Magic Number
The number the Braves need to hit this season is 44. Bradley is a perfect 6-0 this season when making at least 44 percent of its field-goal attempts. The Braves, however, are just 1-7 when held under the targeted number.
DU .. Elite Company
Drake’s win over Mount Marty allowed Darian DeVries to become the fastest coach to achieve 80 wins in program history, accomplishing that feat in 113 games. He ranks sixth on the school’s career coaching victory list.
UE .. Tale of Two Seasons
Through the first 30 days of the regular season, Evansville played a total of 12 games, one of the highest totals in the nation. December games against UT Martin and SMU were cancelled due to COVID, resulting in a 25-day layoff between the 12/8 game at SEMO and the return to the floor on Sunday at UNI.
INS .. Home Sweet Home
Indiana State is 6-0 inside Hulman Center this season and is currently riding an 11-game streak at home. The streak is the third-longest in the MVC behind Loyola (28) and Drake (12). ISU finished 2020-21 with a 9-3 mark at home while going 12-1 in Hulman Center in 2019-20.
LUC .. Power Play
With wins over Arizona State and Vanderbilt, this marks the first time since the 1991-92 season, when it took down Northwestern and Purdue in back-to-back contests, that Loyola has posted multiple regular season wins (postseason excluded) versus Power 5 conference foes in the same campaign. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, Loyola has notched 10 wins versus teams from Power 5 conferences.
UNI .. Success vs. Valpo
UNI enters their mid-week matchup with Valparaiso with a 28-4 record all-time against the Beacons. The Panthers are 6-2 against Valparaiso under head coach Ben Jacobson, and 16-1 at home against the Beacons, with the only loss coming last season in the McLeod Center.